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September 4, 2019, Detroit fire
(RIGHT) Several buildings north of downtown engulfed in flames. On September 4,2019 an intense lighting storm crossed over the city of Detroit and the sorounding metro area. At 3:43 PM, one of the lighting strikes hit a small abandoned building on the north side of town in the center Line neighborhood The building was hit directly, as it lacked a lightning rod. The fire quickly spread through the building, until it was completely engulfed. At this point, the fire department was not even aware of the fire, as no one had yet reported it. The fire then quickly spread to nearby houses. One of this houses, was inhabitanted, and the owners were home. In that house the first deaths of the fire would take place, as a 39 year old woman, and her 50 year old husband would die. The fire would quickly spread, until all of the street it started on, east 9 mile road, was engulfed in flames. By now the Center Line fire brigade, as well as many nearby fire departments we're now trying to put out the now nearly 1 mile wide fire. The time: 5:37. Moving south, and the CLFD disaster Around 5:30 strong winds blowing south began to spread the fire even faster. At 5:40 the authorities of the Detroit metro issued a mandatory evacuation for all neighborhoods from 9 mile road south to 7 mile road and the Krainz Gardens and Von Steubon neighborhoods. At 5:50 the fire fighters were succeeding at stopping the fire from spreading any further south when embers were spotted starting small fire south of the Center Line Fire department and helping fire departments brigades. By 6:00 The brigades we're entirely soruounded by the fire at the intersection of Van Dyke Avenue and Maxwell Avenue. At 6:06 The St. Clair township Fire Department chief issued an SOS alert, stating that they were in a life or death situation, and that the fire was closing in on them and they had no safe way out. Soon, the brigades only option was to attempt to drive south on Van Dyke Avenue, trough the one thousand degree fire. The brigades would hold off as soon. As they could, until they were forced to go south. By 6:30, the brigades had set off into the blaze. Only two men would make it out alive from what was nearly 500. At 6:40 the NWS office in Detroit issued a heavy smoke advisory for all of the Detroit Metro area, including downtown Detroit, and all the way south to Monroe county. At the same time, the Canadian National Weather Service in Ontario issued a heavy smoke advisory for the greater Windsor area. At 7:00 The National weather service in Cleveland, OH reported reports of heavy smoke being viewed at Put-In-Bay on Middle Bass island off of the coast of Toledo, OH. Soon more reports were coming out from Kelley's Island, Marblehead, Catawba Island, Port Clinton, and up north Pelee Island in Canadian waters. By 8:00 the fire was already approaching the neighborhood of Krainz Gardens. Near the same time the mayor of Detroit held a press conference regarding the fire. Press Conference, more evacuations The mayor held his press conference at the Detroit city building. Reporters from around the area had rushed to the building after news of the fire spread, ironically like wild fire. For the first few minutes he breefed the public on where the fire was and what areas were lost. Followed by news of a new voluntary evacuation issued for downtown Detroit and sorounding neighborhoods such as the North end. Before questions, he announced the incident that had occurred on Van Dyke Ave. "Earlier the evening, several large fire brigades from the Detroit Metro area were aiding in the attempt to extinguish the fire on Van Dyke Ave were caught off guard when embers from the fire sparked a fire behind the line of firefighters. Before they could retreat, they were encircled in a wall flames. Soon, it was too late. The group tried to escape through the blaze, but the fire proved to hot. Only two people made it out alive, Volunteers from a nearby fire department. Both have sustained severe second and third degree burns all around there bodies and are listed in critical condition. They were recently Life flighted to a hospital in Ann Arbor. More on this matter as it becomes available." The story made national and international news, with people calling it "the worse city fire in modern histoy" and "The great Chicago fire in the 21st century." Reporters flocked to Detroit to try to get a glimpse of the fire as it inched it's way southeast towards the North End and Downtown.￼ As night set, the fire quickly made it to 8 mile road, engulfing everything in flames. In response to the fire affected his home part of Detroit, Rapper Eminem tweeted: "''Bless all that have been affected by the fires and give them there prayers. The Detroit fire is now crossing 8 mile road, the street I grew up on. I have already heard stories of complete destruction. If you are in the path of this fire, please evacuate." '' '' ''(Below) Fire Fighters at the Anthos Garden Apartment complex. Crossing I-75 and Krainz Garden Before the fire crossed Eight Mile Road, the GM Warren Transmission Operations plant, one of the largest GM plants in the Detroit, Metro area, was set ablaze by the fire as it moved South towards downtown The plant had been evacuated well before this (There workforce and a good amount of there movable goods and equipment) , when the mandatory evacuations were first issued the evening before. At 9:00, fire fighters finished setting up a fire break along Seven Mile road stretching from the Grixdale neighborhood to the Alro steel plant. The firebreak included cutting all trees along the road down, killing the grass via small controlled fires, and spraying many of the houses on the road with water in hopes of dimming the woods availability to burn. The Detroit fire department chief would later say that they were not able to extend the firebreak further east and west do to how close the fire was getting to there lines. This left a gaping hole in there plan, making room for the fire to move south from the east, and go around there line. Meanwhile, on I-75, the bumper to bumper traffic northbound full of people evacuating from neighborhoods south of the fire was forced to turn back around south bound. MDOT employees had been informed by firefighters that the fire had begun to get closers to the highway. MDOT employees, with the CLFD disaster fresh in there mind, decided that it was best if they forced all northbound traffic back south. This decision was met with much criticism in the MDOT ranks, but eventually was approved. At 9:10 PM EST, all cars on I-75 northbound south of 9 mile road were forced to turn south. The traffic began to move south, but do to how much traffic there was, it was still bumper to bumper. By 9:20 PM, the fire was right next to the highway, and hundreds of cars were still on the highway in the path of the fire. Many of the MDOT employees who made the decision to reroute the vehicles would later say they "Immediantly regreted" there decision. At 9:35 PM, the highway was engulfed in large, hundred foot tall 1000 degree flames, with heavy smoke making it nearly impossible to breath. It would take 20 minutes for traffic to begin moving at normal speed again, but for many it was to late. 23 people whould die from burns, and another 15 from smoke inhalation. Several bodies were so burnt that they had to go by dental records to tell who they were. Glass in cars was melted. Meanwhile, the National Weather service office in Cleveland would issue Dense smoke advisories for Ottawa, Erie, Sandusky, Lucas, Lorain, and Huron counties, including the cities of Toledo, Fremont, Sandusky, Lorain, Elyria, Oak Harbor, Put-In-Bay, and Norwalk. # Meanwhile, more smoke advisories we're being issued accros Ohio and Ontario. At 10:00 PM, the National Weather Service office in Cleveland #